IRS Retirement Ages: Early Withdrawals, QCDs, and RMDs

Three ages drive the federal rules on retirement account withdrawals. At 59½, the 10% early-withdrawal penalty on traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, and similar tax-deferred accounts goes away. At 73, required minimum distributions begin for anyone born between 1951 and 1959. At 75, RMDs begin for anyone born in 1960 or later. Between those markers sit several IRS retirement age withdrawal rules that either let you get at the money sooner without the 10% penalty or force you to take it out faster than you’d like.

Age 59½: When the Early-Withdrawal Penalty Ends

Withdrawals from traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and other tax-deferred retirement accounts taken before 59½ trigger a 10% additional tax on top of ordinary income tax.¹ Once you cross that half-year mark, the 10% surcharge disappears. Regular income tax on the taxable portion still applies, but the penalty designed to keep people from spending retirement money early no longer does.

The penalty hits only the taxable portion of a withdrawal. Nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA come out penalty-free and tax-free at any age because they represent already-taxed dollars. For most people with deductible IRAs and traditional 401(k)s, though, the whole balance is taxable on the way out.

Roth IRAs Follow a Different Test

Roth contributions go in after tax, so you can withdraw your own contributions at any age, for any reason, without owing tax or penalties. Earnings are the tricky piece. To pull earnings out completely tax-free and penalty-free, you need to be at least 59½ and your Roth IRA must have been open for at least five tax years.² The five-year clock starts on January 1 of the tax year of your first Roth contribution.

If you withdraw earnings before satisfying both conditions, you owe income tax on those earnings and potentially the 10% penalty. Several exceptions can waive the penalty on earnings (disability, death, first-time home purchase up to $10,000), but the income tax on earnings still applies unless the distribution is fully qualified under both the age and five-year tests.³

One meaningful side benefit: Roth IRAs have no required minimum distributions during the original owner’s lifetime.

The Rule of 55 for 401(k)s

If you leave your job in or after the calendar year you turn 55, you can take penalty-free distributions from that employer’s retirement plan without waiting for 59½. This works whether you quit, get laid off, or retire.¹

The catch: the exception only covers the plan held by the employer you separated from. Roll that 401(k) into an IRA and you lose Rule of 55 access; the 59½ threshold reasserts itself. Anyone thinking about retiring in their late 50s should think twice before rolling a 401(k) into an IRA if penalty-free access matters.

Qualified public safety employees get an even earlier version. Law enforcement officers, firefighters, corrections officers, customs and border protection officers, federal firefighters, air traffic controllers, and private-sector firefighters can take penalty-free distributions from their employer plan if they separate from service in or after the year they turn 50.¹

Other Exceptions to the 10% Penalty

The tax code lists several situations that waive the 10% penalty even if you’re under 59½. None of these eliminate the ordinary income tax on a taxable withdrawal; they only remove the surcharge.

Long-Standing Exceptions

Death of the account owner, or a distribution taken because of total and permanent disability.¹
Unreimbursed medical expenses above 7.5% of adjusted gross income, up to the amount of that excess.
A first-time home purchase, up to $10,000 lifetime, from an IRA (not from a 401(k)).
Substantially equal periodic payments, calculated using life expectancy and taken at least annually. Once you start, you must continue for five years or until 59½, whichever is later; modifying the payments early triggers retroactive penalties on everything already withdrawn.⁴

SECURE 2.0 Additions

The SECURE 2.0 Act, enacted in late 2022, added several penalty exceptions that took effect in 2024 and 2025. Each carries its own dollar limit and repayment window.

Up to $1,000 per year for unforeseeable emergency personal expenses, from a plan or IRA. You can’t take another emergency distribution from the same plan for three calendar years unless you repay the first or make new contributions covering it. Repayment is allowed within three years.⁵
Up to $5,000 per child per parent for birth or adoption expenses, from any account type.
Up to $22,000 per federally declared disaster if you live in the affected area, with a three-year repayment window and the option to spread the income over three tax years.⁶
Any amount, with no cap, if a physician certifies a terminal illness expected to result in death within 84 months. This applies to distributions taken after December 29, 2022.

Age 70½: Qualified Charitable Distributions

Starting at 70½, you can transfer money directly from a traditional IRA to a qualifying charity as a qualified charitable distribution. The QCD counts toward your RMD for the year but is excluded from taxable income. For 2026, the annual limit is $111,000, adjusted each year for inflation. Married couples each get their own limit.

QCDs only work from IRAs, not from 401(k)s or other employer plans. The transfer must go directly from the IRA custodian to the charity; a check that lands in your hands first doesn’t qualify. For retirees who already give to charity, this cuts adjusted gross income rather than just adding an itemized deduction, which usually beats writing a personal check.

Age 73 or 75: When RMDs Begin

Traditional retirement accounts can defer tax for decades, but not forever. Required minimum distributions force money out and onto your tax return whether you need it or not.

You must begin taking RMDs starting with the year you turn 73 if you were born between 1951 and 1959.⁷ If you were born in 1960 or later, the starting age moves to 75. RMDs apply to traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, 457(b)s, and profit-sharing plans. They do not apply to Roth IRAs or designated Roth accounts in employer plans during the original owner’s lifetime.⁸

The Double-RMD Trap

Your first RMD is technically due for the year you reach the applicable age, but you can delay it until April 1 of the following year. Every RMD after the first is due by December 31. If you delay that first one, the second is still due by December 31 of the same year, so two taxable distributions land in one tax year. That can push you into a higher bracket, raise Medicare premiums, and make more of your Social Security benefits taxable.

Missing an RMD

If you don’t withdraw enough, you owe an excise tax of 25% on the shortfall. The penalty drops to 10% if you correct the mistake within two years by taking the missed amount and filing the appropriate forms.⁸ At 25%, this is among the steepest penalties the code contains, and setting up automatic distributions with the custodian is the simplest way to prevent it.

Still Working Past RMD Age

If you’re still employed past 73 or 75, you can delay RMDs from your current employer’s plan until the year you actually retire. This exception only works if you own 5% or less of the business sponsoring the plan.⁷ Traditional IRAs and old 401(k)s from previous employers are not covered; they still require RMDs on the normal schedule.

Inherited Accounts Follow Their Own Rules

When you inherit a retirement account, a separate set of rules applies, and they differ sharply for spouses and non-spouses.

A surviving spouse who is the sole beneficiary can roll the inherited account into their own IRA and treat it as if it were always theirs. That resets the normal ages: no RMDs until the spouse reaches 73 or 75, and no early withdrawal penalty once the spouse hits 59½.⁹ Keeping the account as an inherited IRA is also an option, with distributions based on the spouse’s own life expectancy or, if the original owner died before their required beginning date, delayed until the deceased owner would have reached RMD age.

Most non-spouse beneficiaries who inherited accounts after 2019 must empty the entire account by the end of the 10th year following the year the original owner died. A narrow group of eligible designated beneficiaries can still stretch distributions over their own life expectancy: a minor child of the deceased (only until reaching majority), a disabled or chronically ill person, and anyone not more than 10 years younger than the original owner. Once a minor child reaches majority, they switch to the 10-year rule for the remaining balance.⁹

Reporting Distributions on Your Tax Return

Every distribution generates a Form 1099-R from the plan administrator, sent to both you and the IRS. Box 7 carries a distribution code telling the IRS whether the distribution is early, normal, or covered by an exception.

If you took an early distribution that qualifies for a penalty exception but Box 7 doesn’t reflect it, file Form 5329 with your return to claim the exception and avoid the 10% additional tax.¹⁰ Form 5329 is also the form for reporting a missed RMD and the excise tax that goes with it. For disaster-related distributions, Form 8915-F handles the three-year income spread and any repayments.⁶

1
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Exceptions to Tax on Early Distributions
2
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 408A – Roth IRAs
4
Internal Revenue Service. Substantially Equal Periodic Payments
5
Internal Revenue Service. Notice 2024-55 – Certain Exceptions to the 10 Percent Additional Tax
6
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8915-F
7
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs
8
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
9
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Beneficiary
10
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 5329